The history of every country contains periods of transition: from war to peace, from a previous to a succeeding government, from an autocratic regime to democratic representation, from colonial domination to independence. Turbulent transitions are often times of violence and chaos conducive to violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. A recurring demand in many transitions has been the need to establish a historical record of the events leading to the unrest and to document the reproachable actions committed during the period in question. Truth in this context mainly denotes the act of historical record-setting but more often than not, what “the truth” is, is fiercely contested. In the past, various strategies have been pursued to generate historical narratives for transitional periods; each of these strategies, so it seems, comes with certain problematic aspects attached to it. A very salient example is the attempt to set a historical record through criminal prosecution of those responsible for serious crimes.

This workshop seeks to broaden the discussion by placing special emphasis on the processes of transition that have occurred in both Europa and Asia. To contrast transitional processes in different regions will allow for easier recognition of similarities and differences and challenge the often voiced opinion that the particular historical circumstances found in each nation affected by turmoil make every transition unique to the point where it completely defies comparison.

The judicial forum often proves to be a poor one in the pursuit of truth. Criminal trials are meant to establish criminal responsibility and the fact that a trial usually concerns only a single individual means that any narrative generated through it is necessarily limited. Moreover, the confrontational nature of a trial where the prosecutor acts on behalf of a particular national community or even in the name of humanity against a defendant leaves little incentive to provide a balanced or well-rounded depiction of the facts. Another strategy that seems to counter many of the problems which afflict historical narratives created through prosecutions has been the setting-up of so-called truth commissions. These commissions are non-confrontational in nature and charged with establishing historical truth in a broader sense. Experience has shown, however, that the reports produced by the commissions tend to become the only and “official” narrative of past wrongdoings, crowding out competing narratives.

The workshop seeks to transcend disciplinary boundaries by turning transitional justice from a realm for legal scholars into a joint research object for scholars from different fields. It will bring together renowned experts from both the historical as well as the legal sciences and use the expertise in both fields to introduce different methodologies and perspectives to the study of transitional justice.

We welcome paper proposals especially from young researchers, both PhD and post-doctoral students. Possible foci of proposals include (but are not limited to) “Historical narratives generated through Criminal proceedings”, “Memorials”, Questions of “Whom to remember - Victim-Offender Relationships” as well as “Historical Narratives in a Transcultural Context”.

Please send your abstracts (not more than 200 words) together with a short CV to lingen@asia-europe.uni-heidelberg.de by Oct 20th, 2014.